1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic film unit having an exposure function, a film processing system and a processor for processing the same, more particularly to a film unit of which exposed photographic film contained therein can be taken directly out of a film unit housing.
2. Description Relative to the Background Art
A lens-fitted photographic film unit is sold at a low cost, comparable to a conventional film, and is available wherever ordinary photographic films are sold. It is easy to get a new lens-fitted photographic film unit and to take photographs without a camera, if one who takes no camera along but wants to take photographs. There are two types of lens-fitted film units, in one of which a 135-type film cassette is preloaded in a film unit housing, and in another of which a 110-type film cassette is preloaded in a film unit housing.
After the exposure of all of the frames of the film, the lens-fitted film unit is forwarded to a photolaboratory in its entirety, from which the cassette of 135-type or 110-type containing the exposed film in a roll is unloaded by disassembling or breaking a film unit housing with a jig for processing the film. As is well-known in the art, the unloaded cassette is broken or set in a leader advancing device which draws out the film leader, thereby to take out the film for processing.
However, there is a problem in low efficiency in the processes of processing the film in the lens-fitted film unit, because the film is taken out by disassembling or breaking the film unit housing and the cassette. A film cassette is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,943 in which the film after exposure is wound in the cassette body up to the leading end portion for storing the film, and is let out of the cassette body for development by rotating the spool in the direction reverse to the direction of winding up the film. Variant constructions of a film cassette for the similar purpose are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 41-6297, and Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 43-3416 and 55-21089. However, it is necessary in a lens-fitted film unit containing a film cassette therein to take the film cassette out of the film unit for taking out the film, so that even the above improvement of the film cassette cannot reduce the labor required for taking the film cassette out of film unit.